In particular in the field of aircraft construction, the applicability of profiled structural components comprising fiber materials has for some time been increasingly examined, the term fiber materials being intended to refer to fabrics or non-wovens which are reinforced with glass fibers or carbon fibers, for example, in the form of mats or webs. In order to form a profiled structural component from composite fiber material, the fibers must first be pre-produced and aligned in accordance with their required orientation. The pre-produced fabrics or non-wovens must then be positioned in layers in the desired form, that is to say, draped. In particular with curved profiled structures, this draping process is difficult and correspondingly complex. The fiber materials, in order to achieve curved geometries, must be laid in curves owing to the length differences between the outer edge and the inner edge, which may lead to an undesirable formation of creases. An additional difficulty involves retaining the desired fiber orientation on the shaping tool.
After the draping, the multi-layer laminate structure which is obtained must be fixed. This is generally carried out in a so-called pre-forming step in which the laminate structure, which is sprayed with a bonding material which generally develops its fixing action with the application of heat, is heated in order to set the binding material. Alternatively, it is possible to use fabrics or non-wovens which are already impregnated with a bonding material, so-called prepregs.
An application example for future profiled structural components comprising composite fiber material relates to frames or ribs as used in an aircraft fuselage and in aircraft wings. Previously, such ribs produced from fiber materials had to be individually manufactured using time consuming manual labor, with the individual web layers being draped on a corresponding shaping tool, being temporarily fixed at that location, and then being baked to form a preform with the application of heat. If ribs made of fiber materials are to be used in future for the mass production of aircraft, such a manufacturing operation is too slow and too uneconomical.